“When you pick up an Angel Tree tag, you and The Salvation Army brighten Christmas for a child in need”, is the headline on the Salvation Army website. Angel Tree has been changing lives since 1979 and continues to do so every year.
ETSU and members of its community participate in the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree initiative each year in order to make a difference in children’s lives during the holidays. Through the Angel Tree, Salvation Army and its donors aim to provide new clothes, toys, diapers and other necessities to families in need during the holidays.
In order to make sure that people are donating the items needed, each angel tree holds different tags for individual children. Each tag has a first name, age, gender, a Christmas wish list, clothing needed and clothing size.
Some of the groups that participate each year are Volunteer ETSU, Little Bucs, SGA and members of Fraternity and Sorority Life. While it is common for groups of students to get together to pitch in for one Angel Tree child, individuals can also step in to provide donations for a needy child.
This year, Volunteer ETSU has a tree that is on display outside of the SGA Office in SORC C.
According to Volunteer ETSU’s Abby Lewis, Service Saturday coordinator and Angel Tree chair, the organization participates in Angel Tree because it is such a great way to give back to the community and help children in need.
“The best part of the Angel Tree is that it shows off other people’s generosity, which in turn, brings more generosity. When you give, it encourages others to give,” said sophomore Alex Pape.
If you don’t want to buy everything on a particular tag, Salvation Army is also accepting newly bought clothes, toys, etc. that will still be distributed to those in need on Christmas.
The last day to make donations to Volunteer ETSU is Nov. 30, but Salvation Army locations are still accepting donations until Dec. 9, 2016.
